A → black hole with a mass in the range
102-104 solar masses. IMBHs may form as the result
of multiple → mergers of smaller objects in the centers of
dense stellar clusters in the present universe, assuming
→ mass loss from → stellar winds is
not significant. They may also arise from the evolution of
→ very massive stars
early in the history of the Universe, forming black hole "seeds" in the centers
of massive halos (the precursors of the galaxies we see today) early in the history of the
Universe, to redshifts z > 10. Currently the
best observational evidence for IMBHs comes from models of
ultraluminous X-ray sources
(See, e.g., J. M. Centrella et al. 2010, astro-ph/1010.5260).